Bok Picks Med School Dean; Tosteson Will Replace Ebert

Dr. Daniel C. Tosteson will become dean of the Faculty of Medicine effective July 1, 1977, President Bok announced yesterday. Tosteson will replace Dr. Robert H. Ebert, who is resigning after 12 years in the position.

Tosteson, 51 years old, is currently dean of Biological Sciences and of the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago. He attended Harvard College for two years and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1949.

Tosteson participated in research on cellular functions at Duke University School of Medicine, where he served as chairman of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology from 1961 to 1975.

"I am happy to accept this call to serve my alma mater. I look forward with great enthusiasm to working with my new colleagues at Harvard Medical School to shape medical education to meet the changing conditions for medical practice and science," Tosteson said last night.

"Because of the breadth of his experience with biomedical research, clinical medicine, and national health-care needs, Dr. Tosteson was my first choice," Bok said yesterday.

Rubber Gloves

The choice of Tosteson culminated a somewhat controversial search that began when Ebert announced his resignation last spring. The final decision rested with Bok, but some members of the Medical School staff desired a larger role in the selection process.

"There was some apprehension on the part of the Medical School staff that Mr. Bok was not going to meet our needs. Many felt that the process should have been more consultative, but I think the faculty is satisfied," Robert S. Blacklow '55, dean of Academic Affairs for the Medical School, said last night.

"We had an advisory committee with which I met several times that conducted research of its own on the candidates," Bok said.

"I sympathize with Mr. Bok's desire to do it himself, because the president of a university has very few trump cards to play in the determination of the shape of his faculty," Blacklow said.

Surgical Decision

Blacklow said that Bok consulted the Faculty Council about the qualifications they felt were necessary for Ebert's replacement. "In terms of what the Faculty Council said, and in terms of the Medical School itself, I think Dr. Tosteson is a terrific choice," he said.

"As a matter of policy I did not want to be involved in the decision, but I think it's a superb decision," Ebert said yesterday.

In addition to his other positions at the University of Chicago, Tosteson is Vice President for the Medical Center and Goggeshall Professor of Medical Sciences in the department of Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences.

"Dr. Tosteson has a very genuine and long-standing interest in the broad range of issues that will confront the Medical School in the next decade, and I am delighted that he has agreed to come to Harvard," Bok said.